All six fighters scheduled to be in action at Strikeforce’s CBS-televised event on April 17 in Nashville took part in an open workout on Wednesday in Hollywood, California.
The open workout featured middleweight champion Jake Shields and challenger Dan Henderson, who meet in the “Nashville” headliner, as well as lightweight title-holder Gilbert Melendez, Shinya Aoki, light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi, and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
Below are quotes and photos from the open workout:
JAKE SHIELDS
“I am super excited about this fight and this opportunity to fight on CBS. This is a great show and I am happy to be part of it.
“Dan deserves a shot at my belt even though he’s fighting for the first time for STRIKEFORCE. I know he’ll come to fight. He’s a great fighter and we’re definitely going to put on a show April 17.
“I’m not thinking about future fights. People ask me about fighting different guys all the time. I do ultimately want to fight the best in the world because to be the best you have to fight the best. But I’m focused right now on Dan Henderson.
DAN HENDERSON
“I can’t believe how excited I am to be in this room with all these great fighters and champions. It’s going to be an amazing night in Nashville on CBS. I haven’t fought since July so I’ve been basically getting into shape to fight again.
“Everybody knows Jake Shields is a guy who likes to get guys on the ground and he wants to control everything. I have to be able to finish him off and not take him too lightly. I think it’s a good matchup for me with my wrestling background. I think Jake has a tendency to get overlooked and I’m not sure why.
“I am the challenger on April 17 and will walk into the cage first. It will feel a little strange. But Jake is the champion and I respect that. If he were standing right here I’d tell him that. We’ve hung out before in the past but once we get in the ring it’s all about business.
“I appreciate all the fan support and especially the ones who think I’m going to beat Jake up. People come up to me all the time and let me know they’re fans of mine. I love having the support of all my fans.
“One of the reasons why I left UFC was because I wanted to fight on CBS and possibly on SHOWTIME. It just motivates me in my training knowing I can come in and fight right away for a world title. CBS is definitely a bigger platform to fight on and the more people who watch the more exposure I’ll get as a fighter.”
GEGARD MOUSASI
“I feel great. I’ve been preparing for four months. I’m going to be in the best shape of my life. I’ve had different opponents with different strengths. His strength is wrestling so it’s not a challenge, but it’s another opponent.
“I get nervous. I try not to show it. In the cage I don’t feel that excited even if I win so it’s (usually) after the fight when I get excited.
“King Mo talks so much, he has made me very motivated. I’m hungrier to win this fight then he is. I’m more motivated to win this fight then any fight in my life. In the fight I cannot let emotions take control because (that leads to) mistakes. So it’s just motivation for me.
“He’s a good opponent, he’s a very good wrestler but I’m in good shape. I’m going to have to hurt him. That’s going to make me win the fight.”
MUHAMMED “KING MO” LAWAL
‘I’m a little bit new to all this so it’s exciting for me. I was down in Miami for the STRIKEFORCE fights and got to experience a little about what it’s all about. They had a great card there and exciting fights.
“I don’t think this fight will be boring. It won’t go five rounds either. I never stop training and feel like I can’t get in better shape. Look at the guys I’m training with — (Fabricio) Werdum, (Dean) Lister, Mayhem (Miller). I train with all the top guys and can’t be more prepared.
“Mousasi is a little bit boring. He needs to talk a little bit more – get the hype machine cranked up. This fight being on CBS doesn’t really concern me. It is so great, but I’d fight him in front of five people if I had to.”
GILBERT MELENDEZ
“I don’t think you’ll be seeing 20-hit combos like me and Josh (Thomson) going out there but you’ll see some hard hitting, probably see a little more technical. This is probably going to be a lot more technical. It’s unbelievable that he’s coming to the U.S. to fight me. It says something about him, and he’s the biggest star in Japan. That shows some confidence. I’m happy about it.
“Aoki is the No. 2 fighter in the world and I think he’s an amazing mixed martial artist. I’m excited to fight the guy. That’s what he has on everybody — his ground game and submission. Am I prepared for it? I believe so. I have to be prepared for all his submissions.
“My biggest advantage in this fight is my stand up and my patience. I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Aoki style. I’m just going to be patient and let it happen. I think I can knock this guy out in two rounds.
“I’m really happy to have this fight on CBS. Millions of people will be watching and, yeah, it definitely makes a difference. To me it’s a coming out party to display my skills to the world.”
SHINYA AOKI
“This fight is nothing special. I will fight as usual. I feel I’m representing DREAM and also Japan.”
“He’s a very aggressive fighter. He’s a good fighter representing the United States. It’s going to be a very quick fight, a quick submission or a quick knockout, but either way it’s going to be a personal fight.
“He’s a top-ranked fighter in the United States but I can take his pressure and I’m going to beat him and take back two world title belts to Japan.”
STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE OPEN WORKOUT PHOTOS
Photos courtesy Esther Lin/Strikeforce
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All i have to say is good luck aoki, just remember that the fight starts standing….
I wonder why he is taking this fight personally. I mean it doesnt seem like Melendez is talking chit. Melendez seems really excited for this fight and i hope Aoki doesnt flip the bird in this fight. That Chit may fly on HDNet but will not fly on CBS. I wonder if they talk to him about that, hahaha.
“Hey Aoki, we dont want to get fined by the FCC so no flipping off Gilbert if you win.. ok?”
Out of those 3 quotes how do you come to the conclusion that he is taking the fight personally?
here are some other Aoki quotes from yesterday and none of them seem to be attacking Gil personally…
“He’s a very aggressive fighter. He’s a good fighter representing the United States. It’s going to be a very quick fight, a quick submission or a quick knockout, but either way it’s going to be a PERSONAL fight.”
I took that as he is taking this figher personally and from what i understand when you take fights like that you open up room for error.
Great event upcoming, and good stuff all around from the fighers, but I can’t help but wonder if Dan Henderson actually belives some of that noise he’s making, or if he’s saying it just to be a good company guy for Strikeforce.
Fighting for Strikeforce on CBS is a bigger [MMA] platform than the UFC?
Olympian, please, those of us who are in the know are familiar with your reasons for not re-signing with the UFC.
Appearing on Showtime wasn’t one of them, so howzabout you lockdown some of that nonsense and concentrate on first beating Shields for the 185 belt, and then start arm-twisting Coker to give you a shot at Mousasi to try and repeat “the Hendo”, OK?
:)
Usually I don’t disagree with you Jcohl but on average more people tune into watch the Strikeforce CBS cards than they do for UFC PPV’s. Number don’t lie. I think alot of new commers to the sport tune in even if they’ve never watched MMA before because it’s free and on a national network like CBS.
I think the UFC is a better organization but CBS is a larger platform. I’m with Hendo on this one.
Thats an interesting point, oldman420.
Do we have any hard numbers on this either way?
Justin, or bsbiz, this means you :)
I know that UFC replays on SpikeTV bury Strikeforce numbers on CBS and Showtime, but what about PPV numbers?
This might be one of those semantics or POV situations, but I’m pretty sure in terms of visibility for an MMA fighter that the UFC is the larger platform, but I’ll wait for the numbers…
Fedor vs Rogers averaged 4 million viewers and peaked at 5.4 million during the main event. UFC 108-110 this year has averaged 250k buys. Assuming you can put the average audience down for 6 to 7 leaves you at a range for 1.2million-1.5million average viewers. So Dan is partially accurate to say he can get more exposure on CBS, kind of like Kimbo and Gina Carrano did. But since the UFC not only has their PPV’s alongside constant coverage on Spike tv, one can make a sound and probablly more accurate arguement that Henderson would have more fan access with the UFC.
Yes, the ratings numbers on CBS are much higher than the number of PPV buys for UFC events, in that more households(“HHs” from here on out) are tuning in, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. You have to put things in perspective.
Many HHs don’t do the PPVs, in fact hundreds of HHs go to the local sports bar to watch the PPV, and as far as I know, they don’t count each seat at the bar as a PPV buy. Also, the HHs that do buy the PPV (such as mine) can have as many as 2-20 HHs represented in one location (I’ve had as many as 14 people over). When something comes on CBS, I’m not having folks over to watch, and not many people are going to the sports bar to see it.
In addition, the market penetration, as far as number of HHs in which CBS is available vs. PPV is (guessing) probably a 5:1 (5 CBS HHs to 1 PPV HHs) ratio, and vs. Spike is at least 2:1 if not 3:1.
Now lets look at a comparison of how UFC PPV numbers stack against other PPV numbers, how UFC ratings on Spike stack up against other Spike programming, and how “Saturday night fights” stacks up against other CBS programming
PPV
UFC 100: 1.5 million buys, which is close to the record
Average UFC: 400-800k buys
WWE: 200-600k buys
Spike
TUF 10 Finale (with Kimbo) on Spike: 5.2 million viewers, set a record for SpikeTV
Average UFN: 1-2.3 million viewers
CBS
Fedor on CBS: 5.4 million viewers
Carano/Kimbo EliteXC on CBS: 6.2 million viewers
non-Carano/Kimbo EliteXC on CBS: 2.62 million viewers
NCIS repeats: 10 million viewers
The Mentalist (new episodes): 14-19 million viewers
I personally believe that UFC on CBS would smoke the numbers for Strikeforce on CBS, given that they can compete with CBS with much less market penetration. As it is, Strikeforce’s numbers on CBS hold par with pretty much anything else CBS throws out on a Saturday night.
Justin, much obliged for schooling us on the viewership numbers…
:)
@ oldman 420 – And it appears that you were correct on the viewership issue, at least from a certain POV, so apologies for doubting you…
one major problem strikeforce has is after this stacked fight where are they going.. i dont think nobody going crazy about the May fight about Pitbull or B Rogers on showtime. UFC PPV events i could watch all the time unlike strikforce events.. thats why Coker screwed this up.. he should have spread the fights around from this card
That is the {rumored} May event, and if you don’t like that card so far than so be it.. If you don’t like Strikeforce fine whatever, yet being a fan of MMA I like that card, I like the April 17th card that Strikeforce is putting on, hell I like the March 26th event that Strikeforce is putting on for I like MMA…. What exactly has Scott Coker “screwed up”? Putting on events with the talent that he has at his disposal, how dare he… It seems people complain just to do so, I never got the UFC is the only MMA out there complex that some have, and Mind YOU I don’t believe that YOU are taking that stance yet some people do so and honestly I just don’t get it..
i dont mind strikeforce. u kidding me people gonna jump to watch most overrated HW fighter Overseem fight B Rogers who lost to Fedor for a belt..and steriod user bigfoot stand around vs Pitbull..i dont think im jumping out of my bed for that.. im intersted in Ribero vs Beerbohm others fighters i dont know much about.. that’s why they should spread Henderson/Aoki/Moussai around
I really cant wait for this card. Strikeforce has really stepped up with their most recent cards and this next card is very stacked. If they could have got Fedor for this card, it may have been the early run away for card of the year.
i think this card in may is gonna be sick. and for future events cung le is getting pretty vocal u got lawlor coming off a good win over manhoef i wonder whos next, and even though manhoef lost i still love watching his fights and also im down to see what becomes of herschel and lashley. i too was thinking maybe to many eggs in one basket for this april card but i think SF will be alright. just please dont do herschel vs canseco or sumthin stupid like that.
dont forget about the possible shamrock vs miletich fight what imo is equal to the hype of a couture vs coleman
There is an old adage about a rising tide floating all boats, and this is true in MMA in particular as well as in life in general.
Sure, SF is stacking their CBS event, but the expanding nature of the sport will allow them plenty of matchmaking options, even if Scott Coker can’t come to terms with M-1 Global and somehow force Fedor to honor his contract.
Consider that Bellator does a lot more with a lot less, in contrast to Strikeforce’s resources, so lets not come down on any one org, unless they in someway discredit the sport or do a disservice to their fighters and/or fans…
Strikeforce is doing their own thing and it seems to be working . The DREAM fighters add so many good matchups to the cards …… maybe instead of them doing 3-4 cbs cards a year it should be once a month . There doesnt need to be a title up for grabs every event for it to be a success . Then every 3rd show do something really big .